Donald Trump Poll News

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attempted to confront Vice President Kamala Harris over not answering reporters’ questions while both of their planes were on the tarmac of a Wisconsin airport on Wednesday.

Vance, who is former President Trump’s running mate, also told a press gaggle at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport that he was trying to get a better look at Air Force Two because it’s “going to be my plane in a few months.”

The Republican told reporters that he worried Harris’ press gaggle “might get a little lonely” because Harris doesn’t answer their questions.

“Hey, guys. How are you?” Vance asked the group as he walked towards them. “I just wanted to check out my future plane, but I also wanted to go say hello to the Vice President and ask her why Kamala Harris refuses… why does she refuse to answer questions from the media?”

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, walked over to Air Force Two after his plane landed at the same airport as Vice President Kamala Harris’. He said he wanted to get a closer look at his “future plane.” (AP / Getty Images)

“And I also thought that the press gaggle following her might get a little lonely,” he added. “I, at least, have enough respect for you all, and for the American people you report to, to come and talk to you and to answer some questions. And so I thought her reporters might actually benefit from that as well.”

Vance described the incident as “a little bit of fun.”

“So I had a little bit of fun. I don’t think the vice president waved at me as she drove away, but, I’m glad to have done it,” he continued. “And I’m glad to be here in Wisconsin, actually trying to persuade people to vote for us as opposed to just giving another scripted speech.”

Vance referenced the incident while speaking to employees of Wollard International, a manufacturing company, later that afternoon.

“We’ve had a good day,” Vance told the audience. “We actually just saw the vice president’s plane on the tarmac. We landed about the same time that she did, and I went over there because I thought it might be nice to check out this plane that’s going to be mine in a few months, if we all take care of business, and I think we will.

“But mostly, actually, I want to go and say hello to the journalists who are traveling along with the vice president, because I figured they must be lonely because Kamala Harris doesn’t take any questions.”

VIDEO FROM TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM’S POV SHOWS FIGURE MOVING ON ROOF MOMENTS BEFORE GUNFIRE

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, the Republican vice presidential candidate, speaks at NMC-Wollard Inc. / Wollard International in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Ammar Moussa, the Harris campaign’s director of rapid response, later called Vance’s behavior “weird” in an X post.

“Okay just to clarify: JD Vance is flying around the country following Vice President Harris,” Moussa wrote. “He approached her plane today because he just wants to talk. And now he’s begging her for a debate?”

“Ummm this is getting weird,” he added.

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, tried approaching Vice President Kamala Harris at a Wisconsin airport on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.

Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris shouted down protesters during a campaign speech in Michigan on Wednesday. 

The protesters, who opposed Israel’s fighting with Hamas, interrupted Harris about midway through her speech. 

At first, Harris addressed those trying to disrupt her by saying she was, “here because I believe in democracy and everybody’s voice matters, but I am speaking now.”

But as the protesters continued shouting her down, Harris became more combative. 

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Wednesday, in Romulus, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

“You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said, eliciting static cheers from the audience. 

Those demonstrating were eventually led away, but not before a tense confrontation between Harris supporters and protesters who screamed at one another.

The exchange came amid a visit by Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to Wisconsin and Michigan where they hoped to shore up support among the younger, diverse, labor-friendly voters. 

KAMALA HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE TIM WALZ PICTURED IN 1995 NEBRASKA MUGSHOT AFTER DUI ARREST

President Biden’s support of Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip has been a weak spot for the administration. 

Harris told the day’s first rally in Eau Claire, “As Tim Walz likes to point out, we are joyful warriors.” 

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, before she delivers remarks at a campaign event, Wednesday, in Eau Claire, Wisc.  (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

She said they’re looking at the future with optimism, unlike Trump, the former president and Republican White House nominee, whom she accused of being stuck in the past and preferring a confrontational style of politics — even as she criticized her opponent herself.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution of the United States should never again have the chance to sit behind the seal of the United States,” Harris said, her voice rising.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors allege Hunter Biden was paid by a Romanian oligarch to “influence U.S. policy and public opinion,” while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president, according to new documents. 

The documents were filed by Special Counsel David Weiss in the Central District of California on Wednesday. The filings pertain to Hunter Biden’s tax trial in California. 

The allegations are the closest prosecutors have come to tying President Biden to his son’s overseas business dealings.

Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu is expected to testify against Hunter Biden in the trial, which begins on September 5 in Los Angeles. In the filings, Weiss notes that Hunter Biden had “entered into an oral agreement” in 2015 to help Popoviciu contest bribery charges in Romania.

JURY LIKELY CONSIDERED HUNTER BIDEN’S OWN WORDS IN MEMOIR AS ‘POWERFUL’ EVIDENCE TO CONVICT: EXPERTS

Hunter Biden will stand trial on felony tax charges in early September. He was previously convicted of three felonies in a federal gun trial. (Reuters)

At trial, prosecutors say they will “introduce the evidence described above, including that [Hunter Biden] and Business Associate 1 received compensation from a foreign principal who was attempting to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and cause the United States to investigate the Romanian investigation of [Popoviciu] in Romania.”

In the documents, Weiss alleges that Hunter Biden and his business associate “were concerned that lobbying work might cause political ramifications for [Hunter Biden’s] father [Joe Biden].”

Wednesday’s filing is the first to go into greater detail about Hunter Biden’s international business affairs.

“Business Associate 1 and [Popoviciu] signed a ‘Management Services Agreement’ where Business Associate 1’s legal entity would purportedly provide management services to real estate properties in Romania, but that was not actually what [Popoviciu] was paying for,” the document states.

HUNTER BIDEN ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY GUILTY VERDICT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CALLS GUN TRIAL A ‘DISTRACTION’

The allegations are the closest prosecutors have come to tying President Biden to his son’s overseas business dealings. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In the document, Weiss acknowledges that Hunter Biden’s counsel had asked the court to dismiss allegations about Hunter Biden potentially violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act or FARA.

“The government does not intend to reference allegations that the defendant violated FARA or improperly coordinated with the Obama Administration,” Weiss wrote. “However […] the government will introduce evidence that Business Associate 1 structured a business relationship in an effort to avoid having to register as a foreign agent, and that the defendant and his business partners did reach out to government officials, specifically the United States Department of State.”

Prosecutors allege Hunter Biden and two business associates split more than $3 million in payments from Popoviciu between November 2015 and 2017.

Hunter Biden is charged with failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 while also filing false tax returns. He allegedly used the funds to live lavishly, including spending millions of dollars on drugs, escorts, luxury cars and other high-priced items. He has since paid the taxes.

He is charged with three felonies and six misdemeanors in the tax case.  

Hunter Biden arrives at federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The pretrial hearing for the case is scheduled to take place on Aug. 21 in Los Angeles.

In June, Hunter Biden was convicted by a federal jury in Delaware of lying about his illegal drug use while filling out a form to purchase a gun. He has yet to be sentenced in that case.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital reached out to Hunter Biden’s legal team for comment but has not yet heard back.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.

EAU CLAIRE, WI – Speaking in front of a sea of supporters in rural Wisconsin, Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday declared that “the path to the White House wins right through this state and with your help, we will win in November.”

Wisconsin is part of the so-called blue wall of states – along with neighboring Michigan as well as Pennsylvania – that the Democrats reliably won in presidential elections for nearly a quarter-century before former President Donald Trump narrowly carried them in capturing the White House eight years ago.

But in 2020, President Biden won back all three states with razor-thin margins as he defeated Trump, and the states remain extremely competitive as Harris and Trump face off in the 2024 presidential election.

So it was no surprise that Harris held her first rally with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – her newly named running mate – in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, with stops Wednesday in Wisconsin and Michigan. And staying in close proximity was Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

KAMALA HARRIS AND HER NEWLY NAMED RUNNING MATE KICK OFF A BATTLEGROUND STATE SWING

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, before she delivers remarks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Eau Claire, Wisc. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Walz took aim at Trump at Wednesday afternoon’s rally, charging that the former President “sees the world differently than we see it. He has no understanding of service. Because he’s too busy serving himself again and again and again.”

“This guy weakens our country to strengthen his own hands. He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division amongst the people. And that’s to say nothing of the job he did as president,” Walz argued.

Hours earlier, Trump – in an interview on “Fox and Friends” – belittled the naming to the Democrats’ ticket of Walz, a former high school teacher and football coach turned Democratic congressman in a red district before winning election and re-election as governor.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

“I could not be more thrilled,” Trump said when asked about the announcement from Harris on Tuesday that she chose Walz as her running mate, after also seriously considering Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

“I was shocked when, when it came down to the final two, that she didn’t pick Shapiro. I was very surprised,” Trump said.

But the naming of a running mate has been lucrative for the Harris campaign, which highlighted that it had hauled in $36 million in fundraising in the 24 hours since the Walz announcement.

At the rally, which the Harris campaign said attracted a crowd of over 12,000 people to a festival field amid farmland outside this small northwest Wisconsin city, Walz once again argued that Trump and Vance “are creepy and weird as hell.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, hold a large rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on August 7, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Vance, at a campaign event miles away, pushed back on the “weird” label, saying that he and Trump are “normal guys who want to make this country great.”

In a viral moment, Vance appeared to try and troll the vice president, as he approached Air Force Two at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, where the senator’s campaign plane was also parked.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I figured that I would come by and get a good look at the plane because hopefully it’s going to be my plane in a few months,” Vance said in front of Air Force Two. 

And once again pointing out that Harris has yet to sit for a major interview or hold a press conference in the two and a half weeks since she replaced President Biden at the top of the Democrats’ national ticket, Vance told reporters “I also thought you guys may get lonely, because the VP doesn’t answer questions from reporters.”

Biden dropped his re-election bid on July 21, after a disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June prompted increased questions over whether the 81-year-old president had the physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House. It also sparked a rising chorus of calls from fellow Democrats for Biden to end his re-election bid.

Harris didn’t mention her boss at a large rally in Atlanta last week, nor did she or Walz reference the president at their rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

But Harris, in her sixth visit to Wisconsin so far this year, praised the president at the top of her comments.

“I want to bring greetings from our incredible president, Joe Biden,” Harris said. “He loves Wisconsin, and I know we are all deeply grateful for his lifetime of service to our nation and for all he continues to do.”

After the crowd broke out in a chant of “Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!,” the vice president responded “that’s right. I’m gonna tell him what you said.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the Democratic Socialists of America celebrated Gov. Tim Walz as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate because the Minnesota Democrat is “proud” to stand with “radical” antisemites and leftists. 

“There’s a reason the Democratic Socialists are celebrating him,” Cruz said on his podcast “Verdict” Wednesday.

“There’s a reason, within minutes of his being announced as VP, you know who tweeted out a tweet praising it? Ilhan Omar, with a picture of her next to him, saying what a fantastic choice this was. And listen, you know, she’s from Minnesota. She represents the radicals in Minnesota. He’s her governor, and they’ve been strong, strong allies. He’s proud to stand with the radical antisemite, Israel-hating radical leftists like Ilhan Omar, and it says volumes.”

Harris announced Walz as her running mate Tuesday morning, which was followed by praise from left-wing Congresswoman Omar. And the Democratic Socialists of America took a victory lap over the choice. 

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS GROUP BOASTS IT HELPED MAKE WALZ HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE: ‘FORCE THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, center, speaks during a press conference regarding new gun legislation at City Hall Aug. 1, 2024, in Bloomington, Minn.  (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

“Harris choosing Walz as a running mate has shown the world that DSA and our allies on the left are a force that cannot be ignored. Through collective action, DSA and the US left more broadly have made it clear that change is needed. DSA members organized in our workplaces and unions to realign the labor movement to support Palestinian liberation,” Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist group in the U.S., posted to X Tuesday. 

HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE FACES RENEWED SCRUTINY AFTER HIS ‘WEIRD’ SOCIALISM COMPARISON RESURFACES

DSA took credit for pressuring Democrats to allegedly snub other candidates in the running, including one “with direct ties to the IDF.” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was reportedly one of the top contenders on Harris’ list of potential veeps and was a volunteer in the IDF in his youth. The DSA has blamed Israel for Hamas attacking the nation in October, which sparked an ongoing war. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff wave as they board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland Aug. 6, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

“The Uncommitted movement, in which DSA members played crucial roles nationally and in multiple states, pressured the Democratic establishment into choosing a new candidate and backing down from a potential VP with direct ties to the IDF and who would have ferociously supported the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” the DSA continued in its X thread. 

Cruz continued in his comments that the left-wing faction of the Democratic Party didn’t force Harris into choosing Walz as her running mate, arguing that they hold similar “radical” views. 

LAURA INGRAHAM: WALZ HAS HELPED TANK LAW ENFORCEMENT IN HIS STATE AND IS ON HIS WAY TO TANKING EDUCATION

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz team up for the first time on the campaign trail, hours after the vice president named Walz her running mate on the Democrats’ ticket in Philadelphia Aug. 6, 2024 (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

“It’s not that Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz because she was bullied into it by the left wing. It’s because she picked Tim Walz because that’s who she is,” he said. 

“She’s a radical leftist. As you know, there was one nonpartisan source that rated her … the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate, and (Walz), likewise, he is one of, if not the most liberal governor in the entire country. And I think this is birds of a feather, that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and Ilhan Omar, they agree with each other. They’re radicals.” 

‘NEVER HEARD OF HIM’: HARRIS VP PICK WALZ HAS LITTLE NOTORIETY AMONG TRUMP-VANCE VOTERS IN PA

Sen. Ted. Cruz and Gov. Tim Walz  (Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Harris became the official presidential nominee for the Democratic Party Monday. She rose to the top of the ticket after President Biden dropped out of the race last month amid mounting concerns among Democrats and Republicans over his mental acuity at age 81. Biden has vowed to finish his remaining months in office after ending his re-election bid. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

FIRST ON FOX: Secretary of State Antony Blinken is being called on to freeze aid to Afghanistan following revelations that the assistance could be going to the Taliban. 

A recent report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a government entity conducting oversight of U.S. aid to the country, determined that two of five bureaus within the Department of State (DOS) couldn’t prove their compliance with counterterrorism vetting.

“Collectively, State could not demonstrate their compliance with its partner vetting requirements on awards that disbursed at least $293 million in Afghanistan,” the report stated. 

Sen. Mike Braun called for a freeze on Afghan aid after it was revealed Taliban could be receiving money. (Getty Images)

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said the reported oversight was “deeply alarming” in a letter to Blinken and urged him to stop Afghanistan aid until the issue is addressed. 

‘FEEL BETRAYED’: TOP CONSERVATIVE GROUP BLASTS VULNERABLE DEMS ON INFLATION IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR AD BLITZ

The failure of the DOS to fully comply with counterterrorism vetting standards “has strengthened and enriched the Taliban and its terrorist affiliates,” he said. “Further, when funds that are intended for humanitarian and development purposes end up supporting groups that perpetuate violence and instability, U.S. national security interests in the region are significantly undermined.”

“It is imperative that State take immediate remedial and comprehensive action to rectify these issues to prevent similar occurrences in the future,” wrote Braun. 

‘NEVER HEARD OF HIM’: HARRIS VP PICK WALZ HAS LITTLE NOTORIETY AMONG TRUMP-VANCE VOTERS IN PA

Taliban holds a military parade with equipment captured from U.S. army in Kandahar, Afghanistan on November 8, 2021.  (Photo by Murteza Khaliqi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Further, SIGAR found that $10.9 million in U.S. taxpayer money was paid to the Taliban-controlled government by 38 of the U.S.’s 65 implementing partners. However, the report said the amount was “likely only a fraction of the total amount of U.S. assistance funds provided to the Taliban in taxes, fees, duties, and utilities because UN agencies receiving U.S. funds did not collect data or provide relevant information about their subawardees’ payments.”

In his letter, Braun questioned Blinken over what measures were “being taken against those individuals responsible for the failure to comply with vetting requirements and documentation retention” and asked for a description of what improvements would be made to its “documentation and record-keeping practices to avoid lapses.” 

TRUMP-ENDORSED MIKE ROGERS WINS REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY IN MICHIGAN

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said the oversight was ‘deeply alarming’ in a letter to Blinken, pictured  right, and urged him to stop Afghanistan aid until the issue is addressed.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The U.S. has been the largest international contributor of support to Afghans after their government collapsed, allowing the Taliban to take power following the disastrous withdrawal of American troops in August 2021 under President Biden. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

According to SIGAR, more than $2.8 billion has been provided by the U.S. in both humanitarian and development aid to the country since the withdrawal.

DOS did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of capitulating to radical left-wing voices in the Democratic Party in choosing her running mate for the November election.

“She bent the knee to the Hamas caucus of the Democratic Party,” Vance said during a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday.

He’s the latest GOP critic to accuse Harris of choosing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate against former President Trump and Vance over Josh Shapiro, because the Pennsylvania governor is Jewish. 

Former President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have also made the claim.

KAMALA HARRIS’ VP PICK TIM WALZ PREVIOUSLY CHARGED WITH DUI IN NEBRASKA

GOP running mate JD Vance called out Vice President Kamala Harris for her handling of fallout over her own running mate choice. (Getty Images)

“Whatever your views on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro – and obviously he’s not in my political party. He’s criticized me. I criticized him – the amount of rage that you heard from the far left saying, ‘Kamala Harris can’t pick this guy because he’s Jewish,’ is disgraceful,” Vance said.

“I want my kids to grow up in a country where they can be whatever they want to be, and people aren’t attacking them for their ethnic heritage, and that’s somehow considered acceptable.”

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

Harris chose Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

“It’s not just what these people said about Shapiro. It’s the way that the Harris and the Harris administration and the Harris campaign refuse to push back against it. I think it’s a real scandal,” he said.

The Harris campaign did speak out against the allegations, however, telling the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, in part: “Assertions that Vice President Harris did not select Gov. Shapiro based on his religion or views on Israel are absolutely ridiculous and offensive.”

Republicans have mostly reacted with a mix of glee and relief to Harris’ decision to choose Walz over Shapiro, casting the Minnesota governor as a progressive radical for his COVID-19 policies, support for gender-affirming treatment for minors and government handouts to undocumented migrants.

Harris, whose husband is Jewish, is tasked with navigating the Democratic Party’s ever-widening divisions over Israel, with a growing faction of progressives calling for the U.S. to distance itself from its close Middle Eastern ally.

IT’S OFFICIAL: VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS FORMALLY WINS THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION

Gov. Josh Shapiro was thought to be the frontrunner. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

In the final days before her selection on Tuesday, Harris met with Shapiro, Walz and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Shapiro was thought to be a frontrunner for the role as the governor of a key swing state. 

But reports indicate that, in the end, Harris believed Walz would be a better fit due to his his personality and approach to the campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign and Shapiro’s office for comment on Vance’s remarks.

The wife of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate set social media ablaze Tuesday after an unearthed clip of her describing her actions during the 2020 Minneapolis riots went viral.

Gwen Walz is Minnesota’s first lady and the wife of Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was picked by Vice President Harris to be her running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket.

A pivotal part of Walz’s gubernatorial record was his handling of the death of George Floyd in the state in 2020. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests about race and police brutality.

TIM WALZ, KAMALA HARRIS’ NEW RIGHT-HAND MAN, ECHOES LEFT-WING CRIME POLICIES 

Gwen Walz and the 2020 riots in Minnesota. (Getty Images)

“Again we had more sleepless nights during the riots,” Walz’s wife told KSTP in July 2020. “I could smell the burning tires, and that was a very real thing. And I kept the windows open as long as I could because I felt like that was such a touchstone of what was happening.”

Conservative commentators expressed astonishment at Gwen Walz’s remarks after the clip started going viral on social media.

“What might you call this? Bizarre? Abnormal? Peculiar? Eccentric? Offbeat? Quirky?” Noah Rothman, a senior writer at the National Review Online, said. “Gotta be a word that describes reveling in the catharsis represented by the torching of other people’s property.”

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk described the comments as “weird.”

“Profoundly disturbing,” journalist Abigail Shrier said. “We’re going to need to learn a lot more about the Walzes.”

Dustin Grage, the president of a conservative Minnesota-based consulting firm, said the comments were “bizarre,” adding, “Her daughter also coordinated with rioters to let them know that the National Guard would not be activated one night.”

“Everything you need to know about leftist elites can be found in this short clip,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh said on X. “Tim Walz’s wife sat by the window enjoying the smell of poor neighborhoods burning during the Floyd riots. She did everything but pull out a fiddle.”

Gov. Walz was criticized for his handling of the riots. Conservatives accused him of sitting on his hands as the state was engulfed by riots.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, applauds her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as he speaks at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Aug. 6, 2024, on the first day of their Battleground State Tour.  (Matthew Hatcher/AFP via Getty Images)

As a result of the delayed action, hundreds of businesses across Minneapolis and St. Paul were devastated by the destruction and had to ask their local government for help recovering on top of what they lost during pandemic-related closures.

First lady Walz said she was aware Minnesota was under national scrutiny at the time.

“With COVID-19, the entire state was watching what Tim did,” Ms. Walz said. “But with Mr. Floyd’s death, it was the entire country and the whole world looking at and watching what we did here in Minnesota in response to that.”

RIOTING, LOOTING LINKED TO GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS LEAVES TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION ACROSS AMERICAN CITIES

That record is now again under scrutiny as Walz is catapulted into the national spotlight, with Republican critics taking aim at how both Walz and Harris handled the 2020 crisis.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

“Minnesota was ground zero for the BLM riots of 2020,” Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Harris egged it on, and Walz sat by and let Minneapolis burn.”

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate and running mate of former President Trump, poked at Walz’s 2020 record Tuesday, calling his addition to the Democratic ticket “an interesting tag team.”

“If we remember the rioting in the summer of 2020, Tim Walz was the guy who let rioters burn down Minneapolis,” he said of the riots that began in Minnesota in response to the death of Floyd while being arrested in Minneapolis. “And then Kamala Harris was the one who bailed the rioters out of jail.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to tap Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate elicited mixed reactions from Jewish organizations.

“This is the same guy who famously said, ‘One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.’ Seriously?” read a X post by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) on Tuesday.

The post came after Harris’ highly anticipated decision, choosing Walz after weeks of speculation about several potential candidates.

Harris’ decision reportedly came down to Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a popular governor of a swing state vital to the vice president’s chance of emerging with 270 electoral votes in November.

HARRIS TAKES 3-POINT LEAD OVER TRUMP AS SHE GAINS ON KEY ISSUES: POLL

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to reporters after a meeting with President Biden at the White House on July 3, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

But Harris’ decision to pick Walz over Shapiro, the only Jewish candidate under consideration, also brought widespread speculation that the vice president was pressured by members of the Democratic Party more sympathetic to Palestinians as Israel’s war in Gaza continues. Others scolded the “No Genocide Josh” campaign to pressure Harris, arguing that the resistance to the Pennsylvania governor had an “undercurrent of antisemitism.”

“Those in the overly online left who are attacking Josh Shapiro’s pro-Israel positions in a different way than they are attacking non-Jewish veep contenders’ positions, they’re just telling on themselves,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., told CNN Monday.

“There is a strong undercurrent of antisemitism to that,” he continued. “It’s unacceptable. Every contender’s positions on all policy issues, their track records in elected office, all of that is fair game. That is totally open to be subjected to interrogation and to questioning by the Harris team, by observers, but holding him to a different standard because of his religion just simply isn’t who we are in the Democratic Party.”

Harris’ choice of Shapiro has also come as some supporters of Israel have worried that the vice president’s support of the Jewish state has waned in recent months, noting that she was the first administration official to call for an “immediate cease-fire” in Gaza and her reportedly rocky relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ RAPIDLY EMERGING AS KEY SLOGAN OF ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS IN US 

The RJC statement also hinted at those fears, pointing out that Harris’ choice of Walz is of “particular concern for the American Jewish community” because of his “embrace of” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., whom the RJC has called “the most vicious anti-Israel and antisemitic Member of Congress.”

“This is the same disgraceful Ilhan Omar who has trafficked antisemitic conspiracy theories, falsely accused Israel of genocide and apartheid, and voted against funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system that is currently protecting countless innocent civilians in Israel from terrorist rockets,” the RJC said.

Rep. Ilhan Omar has been called “the most vicious anti-Israel and antisemitic Member of Congress.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

But other Jewish organizations had a more optimistic take on the Harris selection, with the Jewish Democratic Council for America (JDCA) praising the pick.

“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz align with the vast majority of Jewish voters on every key issue, and we’re confident that overwhelming support from Jewish American voters will make the difference in ensuring their victory in November,” JDCA CEO Halie Soifer said in a press release.

‘SHE DID THAT’: HARRIS HIT WITH BLISTERING 7-FIGURE AD TARGETING HER ON KEY ISSUES HAUNTING VP TENURE

“Vice President Harris has made an exceptional choice by selecting Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. We deeply admire Gov. Walz’s impassioned defense of our values, including reproductive rights and defending our democracy, especially as they both are under attack by MAGA Republicans led by Donald Trump,” added JDCA Chair Ron Klein. “Having been elected at the same time and served in Congress with Tim Walz, I can attest to the fact that Tim. Walz has taken on Republican extremists before and won, and we’re confident that he and Vice President Harris will do so again this November with the strong support of Jewish American voters.”

The move was also lauded by Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, an organization that describes itself as “building a multiracial, multiethnic, intergenerational movement of Jews and allies all across the country who are rising up to build an American future free from white supremacy, antisemitism, and racism.”

Gov. Tim Walz arrives to speak at a press conference on Aug. 1, 2024, in Bloomington, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“By choosing Walz, a Governor who broke records investing in public education, infrastructure, paid leave, free college and cutting childhood and elder poverty, Harris sent a clear message to voters: we confront those threatening our safety and freedom for an economy of fear and division with those who invested in them for a care economy,” Bend the Arc CEO Jamie Beran said in a press release.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

FIRST ON FOX: Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the Koch Brothers’ powerful conservative network, is launching a multi-million dollar ad blitz across battleground states targeting vulnerable incumbent Senate Democrats and boosting their Republican opponents ahead of the November election. 

The influential conservative group is spending $5.75 million on ads across Wisconsin, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

Republican candidate for Senate in Montana Tim Sheehy will get $1 million worth of ads in support of his bid, as will Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada Sam Brown. Republican candidates Bernie Moreno in Ohio, Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, and Eric Hovde in Wisconsin will each get $1.25 million in ads supporting them. 

The digital ads will also air on connected television in the pivotal battleground states. 

‘NEVER HEARD OF HIM’: HARRIS VP PICK WALZ HAS LITTLE NOTORIETY AMONG TRUMP-VANCE VOTERS IN PA

AFP Action is targeting Democrats Jacky Rosen, Bob Casey, Jon Tester, Sherrod Brown, and Tammy Baldwin (Left to Right) with a slate of new ads.  (Getty Images)

The buy is part of AFP Action’s “firewall strategy” to support candidates to prevent “One Party Progressive rule.”

There are 10 different video ads featured in the ad campaign, two for each state. 

In one Wisconsin ad titled, “Betrayed,” residents detail how the Inflation Reduction Act passed under President Biden has failed them. “Tammy Baldwin spent a trillion dollars in an Inflation Reduction Act. It did not help us,” Jackie B. said in a testimonial. 

“They put a fancy name on spending money,” Dale G. added in the video. 

Bobbie S. claimed, “Things have definitely gotten worse. It makes me feel betrayed.”

The spot will debut in Wisconsin, targeting Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and boosting her opponent, Republican businessman Eric Hovde. 

TRUMP-ENDORSED MIKE ROGERS WINS REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY IN MICHIGAN

Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in 2022. (Getty Images)

In a statement on the multi-state ad buy, AFP Action Director Nathan Nascimento said, “Voters are tired of Washington doubling down on failed policy and then handing them the bill. But that’s what every incumbent Senator has done during their time in office — some of them for decades. The pain is very real for Americans still deciding who to vote for in November, but when you look at their record, it’s very clear that Senators Brown, Baldwin, Casey, Rosen, and Tester can’t be trusted to vote the right way when it comes to reducing inflationary spending or securing the border.”

“Any one of these Senators were the deciding vote to push the Biden-Harris administration’s massive influx of spending forward, forcing inflation into overdrive – and every single one put their Party ahead of their constituents. Americans across the country are paying the price. The last thing our country can afford is to send these Senators back to Washington for more of the same failed policies,” he added. 

In a Montana video against Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., David D. claimed, “After 35 years in politics, we are worse off than we were when you started.”

DEMOCRAT REP ELISSA SLOTKIN WINS SENATE PRIMARY IN MICHIGAN

Tester is running against Sheehy in Montana. (Getty Images)

“Ohio families are struggling and after three decades, Sherrod Brown’s failed policies caught up with us,” a narrator told viewers in a spot against Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. 

Brown campaign spokesperson Matt Keyes told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Bernie Moreno and his special interest allies are attacking Sherrod to distract from Moreno’s record of refusing to pay his own workers the overtime wages they earned and then shredding evidence that a judge ordered him to keep to get out of it. While Sherrod is fighting to lower costs for Ohio workers, Bernie Moreno can’t be trusted and only looks out for himself.” 

‘HIS RECORD IS A JOKE’: VANCE TEARS INTO HARRIS VP PICK WALZ AT PHILADELPHIA COUNTER-RALLY

Republican candidates Sam Brown, Bernie Moreno, Eric Hovde, Tim Sheehy, and Dave McCormick (Left to Right) are taking on vulnerable Democratic incumbents.  (Getty Images)

“Career politician” Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., is slammed in one of the Nevada ads, with footage of her touting the IRA and claiming “help is on the way.”

A Pennsylvania ad similarly hits Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., for his vote in favor of the IRA, with a narrator saying, “Bob Casey isn’t working for Pennsylvania families.”

Casey spokesperson Maddy McDaniel told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Bob Casey lowered the cost of insulin and is leading the charge against corporate greed and greedflation, while David McCormick defends corporations that are raking in profits while raising prices on middle class families. David McCormick has the support of the Koch family and his Wall Street billionaire backers, but Bob Casey has the support of working people in Pennsylvania.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The ads also tout the Republican contenders for each Senate seat, promoting each of them as a better solution for struggling families in their respective states. 

Campaigns for Tester, Baldwin and Rosen did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

According to AFP Action, it has reached out to more than 7.5 million voters to date this election cycle.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Voters in Pennsylvania in attendance at a campaign event for Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, reacted to Vice President Kamala Harris’ announcement of her running mate on Tuesday, with many of them having never heard of him before. 

“Never heard of him,” Sheila Armstrong from Philadelphia told Fox News Digital in response to Harris’ choice of Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn.

“Not before today,” she explained. 

She even joked, “I was looking on the map where Minnesota was at again.”

TRUMP-ENDORSED MIKE ROGERS WINS REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY IN MICHIGAN

Walz was announced as Harris’ running mate on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Thomas Quinn from Downingtown also hadn’t heard of Walz prior to his inclusion on the vice president’s short list. 

“Which is why I have not done any homework,” he said. “I don’t really know much about him. I understand it takes a lot to be a governor. And I also understand that he’s a veteran… So I really don’t know that much about it, but I’ll do my reading.”

Cliff Skinner, also from the Keystone State, said he had “never” heard of Walz either. He added that he was “not really too impressed” by the selection. 

“I had not. I have to be honest,” replied Kaitlin Derstine from Montgomery County when asked by Fox News Digital if she had known who Walz was before he was being vetted as a potential running mate for Harris. 

She remarked that the news she was already seeing about him was “not very good,” and suggested, “I think that [Harris] probably chose him based on his appearance and what she needed to complement her on her candidacy.”

Perry Petrongola from South Philadelphia had similarly known “not a whole lot” about Walz. 

“I believe he’s the governor of Minnesota. He’s very liberal and against guns.” He summarized Walz as having a “typical liberal agenda.”

“Two liberals, birds of a feather, flock together,” he claimed. 

DEMOCRAT REP ELISSA SLOTKIN WINS SENATE PRIMARY IN MICHIGAN

Harris and Walz had their first rally in Philadelphia. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Those who had heard of the relatively unknown Walz were not happy with what they knew. “I know that he is extremely left, and he also is in agreement with sexual reassignment of, and mutilating young kids,” said Leah Hoops from Delaware County. “And he is also allowing illegals to vote in our elections.”

“I think he’s more socialist, going toward her agenda,” explained Linda DellaPia from South Philadelphia. “Look at the raids that happened in his home state, that he allowed it, and he actually bailed people out,” she said, referencing the 2020 riots in Minnesota following the death of George Floyd. 

“Why didn’t he bring in the national services – the National Guard – to actually help alleviate some of those tensions?” she asked. 

‘HIS RECORD IS A JOKE’: VANCE TEARS INTO HARRIS VP PICK WALZ AT PHILADELPHIA COUNTER-RALLY

Building goes up in flames during George Floyd riots. (Getty Images)

“He was a part of the conversation when the George Floyd riots and all of that came about,” DellaPia recalled. 

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital at Tuesday’s rally, “I think that the Harris campaign and the DNC has decided to go with someone who more matches with Kamala Harris.”

“Gov. Walz is a self-proclaimed socialist, so clearly they feel comfortable with someone who’s a self-proclaimed socialist, as opposed to someone like Josh Shapiro, who’s quite liberal and quite left-leaning, but, apparently a little too rational and sane for them,” he said, referencing the speculation that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro would be chosen as her running mate. 

“The fact that Gov. Josh Shapiro was very supportive of the state of Israel – I can’t help but think that that weighed in, because there’s really no other reason, when Pennsylvania is such a swing state and so meaningful to this race, that they didn’t choose someone from Pennsylvania,” the congressman said. 

According to Meuser, “We would have lost some votes. I mean, that’s the reality. And it would have been a little closer” if Shapiro had been chosen.

BIDEN, DEMS RACE TO BEAT TRUMP’S RECORD ON CONFIRMED JUDGES AS ELECTION LOOMS

Shapiro was also being vetted as a potential running mate. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It just shows what the DNC and the Harris campaign is about. They are about socialism. They are about sanctuary cities. They’re about open borders. They’re about big government, small economy. And they have the most anti-American energy ticket that you can imagine,” he said. 

“Outside of that, they’re wonderful,” he joked. 

On the Shapiro running mate snub, Trump-Vance supporters were thankful that Harris chose Walz. DellaPia claimed Shapiro would have been “the smarter move.”

“I’m glad she didn’t pick Shapiro,” she said. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Armstrong echoed this sentiment, remarking, “I’m just happy she didn’t pick Josh Shapiro.”

“Pennsylvania is already a messy state when it comes to elections and voting. By picking Josh Shapiro, it would have made the process even more messier,” she claimed. “And I would say it would have been more likelihood of people to cheat and do illegal things, because it would have been a homegrown person versus somebody that they didn’t know.”

Fox News reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of dodging his military service and misleading the country about his veteran status on Wednesday.

Vance made the statement while taking questions from reporters at a campaign rally in Detroit. A reporter asked Vance about Walz’ attempt to frame him as a member of the elite who attended an Ivy League school.Yea

“I came from a family where nobody in my family had ever gone to law school. I grew up in a poor family. The fact that Tim Walz wants to turn it into a bad thing, that I actually worked myself through college, through law school and made something myself –  to me, that’s the American dream. And if Tim Walz wants to insult it, I think that’s frankly pretty bizarre,” Vance said before launching into an attack on Walz.

KAMALA HARRIS’ TREATMENT OF STAFF UNDER SCRUTINY AS REPORTS OF POOR OFFICE CULTURE RESURFACE

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of dodging his military service and misleading the country about his veteran status on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

“As a marine who served his country in uniform when the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do it, and I did it honorably,” he said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with.” 

Vance continued, “I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you’re going to follow through, and then to drop out right before you actually have to go.”

HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN CASH DASH THANKS TO FUNDRAISING SURGE

Vance went on to highlight comments from Walz on gun control, saying the governor had used his questionable military history in an attempt to push gun restrictions.

Vance blasted Walz for invoking his history in the military when calling for tighter gun control. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

“He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this? What was this weapon that you carried into war, given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone? What bothers me about Tim Walz is the stolen Valor garbage,” Vance said.

Vance also urged reporters to hold Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris accountable. Harris has not taken questions from the press in the 17 days since President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed her.

Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff wave as they board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland on Aug. 6, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN CASH DASH THANKS TO FUNDRAISING SURGE

Former President Trump has accused Harris of hiding behind her teleprompter even as Biden “hid in his basement.”

There are 90 days until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

But if Americans vote like they did in the last two election cycles, most of them will have already cast a ballot before the big day.

Early voting starts as early as Sept. 6 for eligible voters, with seven battleground states sending out ballots to at least some voters the same month.

It makes the next few months less a countdown to Election Day, and more the beginning of “election season.”

VANCE PRAISED FOR ‘ABSOLUTE FIRE’ TAKEDOWN OF HARRIS-WALZ ‘TAG TEAM’ RIOT ENABLERS: ‘MAKE AMERICA BURN AGAIN’

Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris (Getty Images)

States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military or people with illnesses. 

In some states, almost every voter casts a ballot by mail.

Many states expanded eligibility in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it riskier to vote in-person.

That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that 71% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day, with 30% voting early in-person and 41% voting by mail.

Early voting remained popular in the midterms, with 57% of voters casting a ballot before Election Day.

TIM WALZ’S SELECTION AS HARRIS RUNNING MATE DRAWS SKEPTICISM, EVEN AMONG ANTI-TRUMP FIGURES

A voter fills out a ballot in Lake Orion, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Elections officials stress that voting early is safe and secure. Recounts, investigations and lawsuits filed after the 2020 election did not reveal evidence of widespread fraud or corruption. 

The difference between “early in-person” and “mail” or “absentee” voting.

There are a few ways to vote before Election Day.

The first is early in-person voting, where a voter casts a regular ballot in-person at a voting center before Election Day.

The second is voting by mail, where the process and eligibility varies by state.

Eight states vote mostly by mail, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Registered voters receive ballots and send them back.

Most states allow any registered voter to request a mail ballot and send it back. This is also called mail voting, or sometimes absentee voting. Depending on the state, voters can return their ballot by mail, at a drop box, and/or at an office or facility that accepts mail ballots.

In 14 states, voters must have an excuse to vote by mail, ranging from illness, age, work hours or if a voter is out of their home county on lection day.

States process and tabulate ballots at different times. Some states don’t begin counting ballots until election night, which delays the release of results.

Voting begins on Sept. 6 in North Carolina, with seven more battleground states starting that month

This list of early voting dates is for guidance only. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes, and deadlines, go to Vote.gov and your state’s elections website.

The first voters to be sent absentee ballots will be in North Carolina, which begins mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6.

Seven more battleground states open up early voting the same month, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.

KAMALA HARRIS HAS AVOIDED INTERVIEWS FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS SINCE BECOMING DEM NOMINEE

Early voters cast their ballots in Ferndale, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

September deadlines

In-person early voting in bold.

Sept. 6

• North Carolina – Absentee ballots sent to voters

Sept. 16

• Pennsylvania – Mail-in ballots sent to voters

Sept. 17

• Georgia – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 19

• Wisconsin – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 20

• Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
• Minnesota, South Dakota – In-person absentee voting begins
• Virginia – In-person early voting begins
• Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 21

• Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
• Indiana, New Mexico – Absentee ballots sent
• Maryland, New Jersey – Mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 23

• Mississippi – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent
• Oregon, Vermont – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 26

• Illinois – In-person early voting begins 
• Michigan – Absentee ballots sent
• Florida, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent
• North Dakota – Absentee & mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 30

• Nebraska – Mail-in ballots sent

October deadlines

Oct. 4

• Connecticut – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 6

• Michigan – In-person early voting begins 
• Maine – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
• California – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
• Montana – In-person absentee voting begins
• Nebraska – In-person early voting begins 
• Georgia – Absentee ballots sent
• Massachusetts – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 8

• California – Ballot drop-offs open
• New Mexico, Ohio – In-person absentee voting begins
• Indiana – In-person early voting begins
• Wyoming – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent

Oct. 9

• Arizona – In-person early voting begins & mail ballots sent

Oct. 11

• Colorado – Mail-in ballots sent
• Arkansas, Alaska – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 15

• Georgia – In-person early voting begins
• Utah – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 16

• Rhode Island, Kansas, Tennessee – In-person early voting begins
• Iowa – In-person absentee voting begins
• Oregon, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 17

• North Carolina – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 18

• Washington, Louisiana – In-person early voting begins
• Hawaii – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 19

• Nevada, Massachusetts – In-person early voting begins 
• Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas – In-person early voting begins 
• Colorado – Ballot drop-offs open

Oct. 22

• Hawaii, Utah – In-person early voting begins 
• Missouri, Wisconsin – In-person absentee voting begins

Oct. 23

• West Virginia – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 24

• Maryland – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 25

• Delaware – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 26

• Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, New York – In-person early voting begins 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Oct. 30

• Oklahoma – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 31

• Kentucky – In-person absentee voting begins

Trump still has an edge, but the race is closer than ever. That is the outlook in the first Fox News Power Rankings with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket and two new running mate picks.

The race to be ‘someone else’

When this cycle began, most voters didn’t want President Biden or former President Donald Trump in the race.

In a Fox News survey conducted weeks after the midterms, 64% of voters said they wouldn’t like to see Biden run for re-election, and 58% said they weren’t happy about Trump running either.

Fox News Power Rankings forecast shows a slight Trump edge over Harris. (Fox News)

Voters were not glad Biden was running in 2024. (Fox News)

Throughout his campaign, reliably blue voters drifted away from Biden, and he lagged with independents.

The top reason was clear and consistent: voters thought he was too old for a second term.

Last month, the president acquiesced to his doubters and stepped out of the race. On Monday, Harris became the Democratic nominee.

Meanwhile, Republicans have been rallying around Trump. 

Voters are not glad that Trump is running in 2024, either. (Fox News)

But the former president has proven there is a ceiling in his level of support, particularly with independents.

Collectively, the polls suggest that the winner of the 2024 presidential race could be the candidate who reminds voters least of Biden or Trump.

In other words, Harris and Trump each have up to 90 days to prove they can be “someone else.”

The type of “someone else” matters. 

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

A majority of Americans say Biden is too liberal. In June, 56% of adults said they felt that way, and so did 56% of independent voters.

Trump’s “MAGA” movement is also unpopular. In a survey last year, only 24% of Americans said they had a positive view of the movement, and only 12% of independents agreed.

That makes both candidates’ vice presidential picks missed opportunities.

Fox News Power Rankings’ election countdown calendar. (Fox News)

There is also little time left in the race. Most Americans now cast a ballot before election day and early voting kicks off in 30 days.

After a sleepy start, America is sprinting to the finish line.

Eliminating the age problem gives Harris a strong start, but Walz doesn’t help her 

If Harris’ goal is to not remind voters of Joe Biden, she starts with a clear advantage. The vice president is 22 years younger than her boss.

Fox News Power Rankings analysis shows that Harris has wiped out Biden’s polling deficit. (Fox News)

That has helped wipe out Biden’s deficit in national polls.

After the presidential debate, Biden had support from 42% of registered voters in an average of polls, with Trump at 49% (NYT, WSJ). That is a 7-point gap.

In the first polls from the same outlets after Harris became the likely nominee, she improved to 47%, with Trump still at 49% (NYT, WSJ). That is a race within the margin of error.

We know age was the driver of this upswing because when these polls were conducted, Harris hadn’t changed anything else.

Tuesday, she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

Polling showed whether Biden is too liberal. (Fox News)

Walz has supported a long list of socially progressive policies. He signed a law that made illegal immigrants eligible for drivers’ licenses, and another that, per a memo circulated by allies, made Minnesota a “Trans Refuge State.”

He has also faced criticism for his slow response to rioting, looting, and arson after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

With reporting over the weekend that Harris had narrowed her choices to Walz or moderate Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who had a 61% favorability rating in a must-win swing state, Harris’ decision seems unhelpful to her campaign.

Walz is unlikely to hurt the campaign either.

His signature policies include expansions of paid family and medical leave, legislation protecting abortion rights, education funding and drug affordability. 

Fox News Power Rankings analysis shows the top three issues in battleground states. (Fox News)

Those positions are all in line with Biden and Harris’ agenda over the last four years and are popular in battleground states.

Democrats are also excited about his “folksy” demeanor, military service, and working-class background.

And while there is no polling evidence so far that Walz has outsized appeal with Midwestern voters, he doesn’t underperform with them either. In the midterms, he won re-election by seven points.

The problem is more that Walz doesn’t help Harris win over independent voters who already say that Biden is too liberal.

Trump can’t redefine himself, and Vance doesn’t help either

Meanwhile, while voters prefer Trump on policy, he must show independents that he is a more honest and temperate man than he was in his first term.

Surviving a terrifying assassination attempt gave Trump an opportunity to do this, and surrogates were eager to play up the “changed” Donald Trump throughout the Republican National Convention.

An uneven convention speech and an aggressive appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago last week proved Trump is still Trump.

His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been unhelpful so far.

Vance earned his spot on the ticket because he was the most aligned to Trump and the “MAGA” movement out of all the leading candidates. The polling shows that “MAGA” has limited appeal outside the Republican base.

New polling shows that “MAGA” is broadly unpopular with voters. (Fox News)

Vance has also had to defend several comments he made about women.

In a 2021 interview, he called some Democratic politicians “childless cat ladies,” and the same year, said rape and incest were possible circumstances of a child’s birth that society views as “inconvenient.” Vance said he meant society sometimes sees babies as inconvenient in a Fox interview last week.

Like Walz, Vance brings a Midwestern background to the ticket.

Republicans are excited about his ability to empathize with working-class voters who propelled Trump to victory in 2016 and say his military experience will be an asset.

He has cosponsored bipartisan legislation to lower the price of insulin and make banks more accountable when they fail.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: IS KAMALA HARRIS UNBURDENED BY WHAT HAS BEEN?

And in the midterms, Vance won his race by about six points against one of the strongest Democratic candidates in decades.

Overall, Trump’s combative personality and the Vance pick are not quite the strategic mistakes that some analysts say they are.

The “MAGA” movement excites core Republican voters, and firing up the base was a key factor in Trump’s 2016 win.

But depressing Democratic turnout was also key to that victory. The polling now shows that Harris has fired up her base too.

Trump has an edge in the forecast, but it’s a very close race

The Fox News Power Rankings map shows the forecast as of Aug. 7, 2024. (Fox News)

With Harris at 47% and Trump at 49%, the national race is very tight.

Harris’ five-point improvement over Biden comes from upswings in two of three key groups that had drifted away from the incumbent president.

Harris has flipped the race with young voters. Biden had support from 40% of voters aged 18-29 after the debate; the vice president now sits at 56%.

She has similarly improved with Hispanic voters, increasing her support from 41% after the debate to 57% now.

Fox News Power Rankings show Democrats’ performance with key groups. (Fox News)

Trump continues to perform much better with Black voters than he did in 2020.

That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis had just 8% of African American or Black voters supporting Trump. He pulls 23% among registered voters in the same groups now, nearly tripling his support.

Watch that number as election day draws closer. There is evidence in past cycles that many Black voters “come home” to the Democrats, but the margin could determine the winner of the election.

With Democrats re-energized, Harris looks stronger in battleground Minnesota

Fox News Power Rankings’ list of most competitive swing states. (Fox News )

Only one competitive state moves further into Democratic territory in this forecast, and it’s Walz’s home, Minnesota.

Harris already had an advantage in this reliably blue state.

In a set of Fox News battleground state polls from late July, Harris had support from 52% of voters in Minnesota, 6 points above Trump at 46%.

That is just about the same as Biden’s vote share in 2020.

Minnesota has also voted for Democrats in every election since 1972.

Fox News Power Rankings’ list of less competitive swing states (Fox News)

Trump rallied there last week, and his campaign announced they were opening more field offices there in June, so it remains in a “competitive” category.

But unless there is a future drop in Harris’ support, she is in the driver’s seat. Minnesota moves from Lean D to Likely D.

A big month ahead for the Power Rankings

This is the first of several Fox News Power Rankings forecasts in August.

Look for the first Senate, House, and governor forecasts for 2024 starting Monday next week.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Then, on Sunday, Fox News Democracy 24 special coverage begins for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

That’s also the date for the next Power Rankings Issues Tracker, Fox’s polling tracker for the issues and candidate qualities that will define this race.

Democratic state attorney general Bob Ferguson took the most number of votes in Washington state’s nonpartisan gubernatorial primary Tuesday. He will face Republican Dave Reichert, who placed second, in the Nov. 5 election to replace termed-out Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.

In Washington’s “top two” primary system, all candidates for congressional and state offices are listed on the same ballot. The two candidates who receive the highest number of votes move on to the general election, irrespective of their party affiliations. 

The state’s top lawyer since 2013, Ferguson is running on a platform of continuity and reform, and has positioned himself as a defender of progressive values in a state known for its Democratic leanings. He won with 74% of the vote on Tuesday night, and will square off against Reichert, a former sheriff and former congressman, in the Nov. 5 general election.

WHAT MIKE ROGERS TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ABOUT HIS SENATE SHOWDOWN IN MICHIGAN

Aerial view of Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Washington. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

Ferguson’s campaign has been marked by his sharp criticism of his opponent, former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, on hot button issues such as abortion, as Ferguson has attacked Reichert for his previous support for a nationwide abortion ban as out of touch with Washington’s values. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Ferguson’s endorsements include prominent state leaders like U.S. Senate Pro Tempore Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee.

Washington hasn’t elected a Republican governor in 40 years, making it an uphill battle for Reichert in November.

Vice President Harris has taken a 3-point lead over former President Trump as she gains ground on key issues, according to a new poll.

The poll, conducted by NPR, PBS and Marist, found Harris leading Trump 51% to 48%, but clarified that the difference is within the margin of error. Harris has also narrowed Trump’s lead on key issues like the economy.

Trump still holds a significant 6-point lead when it comes to illegal immigration, according to the poll. Meanwhile, Harris leads on abortion issues by a massive 15 points.

The Marist poll was conducted from August 1-4 and advertised a margin of error of 3.4%. 

TRUMP QUICKLY MOVES TO DEFINE HARRIS AS ‘MORE LEFT THAN BERNIE SANDERS’

Vice President Kamala Harris has taken a 3-point lead over former President Trump as she gains ground on key issues, according to a new poll. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The survey comes days after a Fox News poll found Trump and Harris deadlocked in Pennsylvania, a key swing state for the presidential election.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE

People take their seats ahead of U.S Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ rally with her newly chosen vice presidential running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., August 6, 2024.  (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The state of the race in the Keystone State is similar to where it was in April, when Biden and Trump were tied 48-48%. The survey, released Friday, shows Harris and Trump locked in a tie in Pennsylvania at 49-49% – barely different from what the final election results were in the state in 2020 (49.85% Biden vs. 48.69% Trump).

Harris announced her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on Tuesday. Several liberal media figures expressed concern when word came out about her selection, with some pundits questioning the “weird” choice. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The poll further showed Trump closing the gap with voters under 30 (-27 points in April to -4 points today), voters 65 and over (-5 to -1), suburban women (-32 to -12) and those with a college degree (-18 to -10), and widening it slightly among Independents (+8 to +9).

Political insiders and advisers in former President Obama’s orbit are increasingly joining Vice President Harris’ campaign as she prepares to face off against former President Trump in November. 

Harris has less than 100 days to inspire voters to rally behind her White House run after President Biden dropped out of the race in the wake of mounting concerns over his mental acuity and 81 years of age. The vice president officially clinched her party’s 2024 presidential nomination on Friday, earning more than a majority of votes from convention delegates, the DNC reported. 

After Biden’s departure from the race, Harris is in the midst of building out her campaign team, most notably adding a bevy of Obama orbit insiders and advisers to her election effort. 

Last week, Harris hired David Plouffe as a senior campaign adviser after he managed Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 and served as a senior aide to Obama’s successful 2012 re-election effort. Harris also hired Stephanie Cutter as her campaign’s senior adviser for strategy messaging, after Cutter’s work as deputy campaign manager for Obama’s 2012 election. 

BARACK, MICHELLE OBAMA ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT AFTER DAYS OF SILENCE

Vice President Harris and former President Obama (Getty Images)

Harris also brought on Mitch Stewart as a senior adviser for battleground states after he worked for both of Obama’s campaigns as a grassroots strategist, the Washington Post reported. David Binder, who has long worked with Harris, is also expanding his role in the campaign to oversee its team of pollsters. Binder previously worked on Obama’s public opinion research team. 

OBAMA ALLIES, ADVISERS HELPED LEAD THE CHARGE AMONG DEMS LOOKING TO SINK BIDEN AHEAD OF OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Harris also brought on veteran Democratic operative Jennifer Palmieri as senior adviser to Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff. Palmieri served as White House director of communications under the Obama administration and as director of communications for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 White House bid. 

Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, White House deputy chief of staff, and Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser (Getty Images)

Harris also previously tapped Obama’s former attorney general, Eric Holder, to lead the vetting process of her potential running mates, while Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, who worked as Obama’s 2012 deputy campaign manager and Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign chair, was announced as Harris’ campaign manager. 

OBAMA’S INNER CIRCLE SIGNALS 44TH PRESIDENT FIRMLY BEHIND HARRIS DESPITE NOT SAYING SO PUBLICLY

Vice President Harris (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The 44th president had remained coy for days last month before offering his endorsement of Harris’ presidential run. Since leaving the Oval Office, Obama has typically held his endorsement card close to his chest. He endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2016, while his endorsement of Biden in 2020 was only made days ahead of the Democratic National Convention. 

Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama officially endorsed Harris last week in a video. 

“I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you. This is going to be historic,” Michelle Obama said in the video while speaking to Harris. 

“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” former President Obama added. 

HARRIS EDGES CLOSER TO TRUMP IN NEW POLL CONDUCTED AFTER BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL

Michelle Obama (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Harris, who also ran for president in the 2020 cycle before dropping out and running alongside Biden, had long had a friendship with Obama before entering federal politics. 

Harris was among the first elected Democrats in the nation to endorse Obama’s first run for president in the 2008 election, snubbing Hillary Clinton in favor of the then-Illinois senator. 

Harris was in attendance when Obama announced his candidacy for president in 2007, after first meeting him in 2004 when he was an Illinois state senator running for the U.S. Senate, the Washington Examiner previously reported. 

“Barack Obama will be a president who finally ends the era of fear that has been used to divide and demoralize our country,” Harris said during California’s Democratic convention in 2008. 

As Harris built her political career from San Francisco district attorney to California attorney general and then senator, Harris was even dubbed “the female Obama” by some political analysts. 

EX-OBAMA ADVISER SAYS BIDEN CAN’T BEAT ‘FATHER TIME’ AND IS ‘NOT WINNING THIS RACE’

President Obama greets then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris and then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in San Francisco on Feb. 17, 2011. ( Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Harris became the Democrat nominee for president upon Biden’s withdrawal from the race after his disastrous June debate performance against Trump, which included the president losing his train of thought, stumbling over his words and appearing more subdued than during other public events in recent years. The debate performance opened the floodgates to traditional Democrat allies and legacy media outlets joining conservatives in their concerns over Biden’s mental acuity and age. 

After the White House and Biden campaign repeatedly denied the president would drop out of the race, Biden announced in a tweet on a Sunday afternoon last month that he was leaving the race and would carry out his final months in the White House. 

Ahead of Biden dropping out of the race, Obama allies notably helped lead the charge in calling for the president to get out of the race in favor of a candidate they believed was more suitable to take on Trump. 

OBAMA AGAIN STEPPING INTO ROLE AS JOE’S CLOSER AHEAD OF TRUMP V BIDEN REMATCH

Obama’s former chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, said last month that Biden is “not winning this race.” Actor George Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race in a bombshell op-ed that was published just weeks after the Hollywood star co-hosted Biden, alongside Obama, at a ritzy campaign event in Los Angeles. Clooney has long had a personal friendship with the Obamas, including vacationing with the first couple in previous years.

Former President Obama and Vice President Harris (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Another ally in Obama’s orbit, Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama, also called on Biden to drop out of the race last month, saying he attended the fundraiser in L.A. with Clooney and Obama and witnessed firsthand Biden’s state of mental acuity. Favreau, alongside former Obama advisers Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor – known collectively as the “Obama Bros” when they worked in the White House – also dedicated the majority of a podcast episode of “Pod Save America” in June to trashing Biden.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Harris announced her running mate on Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Harris and Walz are expected to travel to Chicago this month for the Democratic National Convention while the election cycle enters its final months.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

EXCLUSIVE: The No. 3 House Republican leader says Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate is the best-case scenario Republicans could have asked for.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the highest-ranking congressional Republican from Walz’s home state, spoke with Fox News Digital after Harris announced the Midwestern progressive would join her on the Democratic Party ticket in November.

“This could not be a better contrast with Donald Trump, who literally has run a business empire, has been incredibly successful. These two don’t know the first thing about running anything,” Emmer said. “And Tim Walz — I mean, look, he’s, he’s tried to turn Minnesota into Kamala Harris’ California for the last six years. He is a radical progressive.”

HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN CASH DASH THANKS TO FUNDRAISING SURGE 

House GOP Whip Tom Emmer, the highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress, criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of his state’s governor, Tim Walz. (Getty Images)

Harris met with Walz along with Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over the weekend to help finalize her decision, just over two weeks after she took over the mantle when President Biden dropped out of the race.

Emmer said Walz was “absolutely” the best option for Republicans to run against and said Shapiro was “clearly too fiscally conservative” a choice for Harris.

“Tim Walz literally has mismanaged the state from day one. Not only did he pick winners and losers during his mishandling of the pandemic situation, but he allowed Minneapolis to burn to the ground, just not willing to deal with criminals,” Emmer said.

Walz has already been accused of waiting too long to send in the National Guard when Black Lives Matter protesters set fire to public property and clashed with police during the summer of 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd.

HARRIS LEANS IN ON BORDER SECURITY AND TRUMP RELISHES THE FIGHT

Looters carry items out of a Target store in the aftermath of extensive rioting, looting and arson in shopping and commercial areas of South Minneapolis over the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. (Scott Takushi/MediaNews Group/St. Paul Pioneer Press via Getty Images)

Republicans are also likely to attack him for his handling of COVID-19, Emmer suggested. During the pandemic, Walz was criticized by opponents of government COVID mandates for policies on masking indoors and for a hotline set up by the state government to report instances of rule violations.

Emmer said Walz’s push for more electric vehicles in the state, including the Clean Cars Minnesota program, would also be another point for Republicans to target.

“This guy has embraced the radical left approach towards energy, trying to destroy our efficient, abundant energy supply. He wants Minnesota to be like California sooner than later by eliminating gas-powered vehicles,” Emmer said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign and governor’s office for comment. 

2024 AD WARS: TRUMP, HARRIS RACE TO DEFINE VICE PRESIDENT

Harris announced Walz as her pick Tuesday. (Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)

Former President Trump seemed similarly fired up over Harris’ decision, writing on Truth Social in all capital letters, “THANK YOU!” shortly after the announcement was made official.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Top Democrats, however, have praised her choice of the Midwestern governor. 

“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will lead America into a brighter future for everyone. Onward!” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on X.

Ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on MSNBC, “Tim Walz I know very well. He served in the House. To characterize him as left is so unreal. He’s right down the middle. He’s a heartland of America Democrat.”

Politicians, pundits, and conservative voices reacted to news of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being selected as the Democratic vice presidential nominee by claiming it is evidence that Democrats have a problem with antisemitism within the party.

“The Walz selection shows just how deep the Dems’ antisemitism problem runs,” Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro posted on X after Walz was selected by Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday over Gov. Shapiro.

Shapiro, who is Jewish, was forced to defend his stance on Israel during the VP selection process after an op-ed he penned more than three decades ago, in which he wrote of being an Israeli army volunteer and disparaged the Palestinian people, resurfaced. 

Many commentators have made the argument that Shapiro was ultimately not selected because of the wing of the Democratic Party that opposes Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza.

DEMOCRAT CALLS OUT LEFT’S ‘STRONG UNDERCURRENT OF ANTISEMITISM’ IN ATTACKS ON POTENTIAL VP PICK SHAPIRO

Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (L) speak to the press while making a stop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (RYAN COLLERD/AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s amazing that despite America’s right, left, and center agreeing that Josh Shapiro was Harris’ best pick for VP, at the end of the day, Shapiro being Jewish disqualified him,” former GOP Congressman Lee Zeldin posted on X. 

“It says so much about the state of today’s Democratic Party.”

“Let’s be honest,” GOP Sen. Tom Cotton posted on X. “Kamala is the most anti-Israel member of Biden’s team, always siding with Hamas and Iran’s interests. Shapiro and Walz’s views on Israel aren’t that different. But Harris catered to her pro-Hamas, antisemitic base who opposed Shapiro because he’s Jewish.”

“Kamala Harris did not pick Josh Shapiro because antisemitic progressives did not like that he is Jewish,” NRSC spokesperson Mike Berg said in a statement. 

“It was Harris’ first major decision as the nominee and she caved to the pro-Hamas contingency within the Democratic Party.”

BBC CHAIR DENIES PLEA FROM 200 JEWISH STAFFERS CALLING FOR FORMAL PROBE INTO ANTISEMITISM AT THE NEWSROOM

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz laughs as he stands with Fridley, Minn., Mayor Scott Lund during a visit to the Cummins Power Generation Facility in Fridley, Minn., Monday, April 3, 2023.  (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Despite not being chosen by Harris to be her running mate, Shapiro gave a fiery speech ahead of Harris and Walz speaking at a Philadelphia rally to kick off their swing state tour Tuesday evening, taking shots at former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.

“I lean on my family and I lean on my faith which calls me to serve,” Shapiro said during the speech. “And I am proud of my faith!”

“The only reason Josh Shapiro was not selected as VP is because he’s a Pro Israel Jew,” prominent Austin, Texas attorney Adam Loewy posted on X. “The Left would have melted down. There is simply no other reason you pass on the wildly popular Governor of the THE MOST IMPORTANT swing state.”

“They just couldn’t stomach a proud Jew,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Adviser Richard Goldberg posted on X. “There was no amount of apologizing for being Jewish and supporting Israel that Shapiro could ever do to be acceptable. That’s today’s Democratic Party.”

“The Left did it to Joe Lieberman,” Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer posted on X. “Now, they did it to Josh Shapiro. The D party is not home for strong supporters of Israel.  It’s time for the Jewish community to recognize the power in the D party rests with its anti-Israel progressive base.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

“If it’s not Josh Shapiro…they will have not picked Shapiro frankly out of antisemitism in their own caucus and in their own party,” Trump VP candidate JD Vance said on Tuesday morning before the pic was announced.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response. 

Paul Hudson emerged with the victory in the Republican primary for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, one of the most competitive races in the country.

Hudson was leading Michael Markey Jr. approximately 55% to 45% when the race was caklled by the Associated Press.

Markey Jr., who touted his business experience throughout the campaign, painted himself  as a “disrupter” who would work to “get things” done if elected to Congress.

KEY PRIMARIES IN 4 STATES ON TUESDAY TO SET TABLE FOR NOVEMBER SENATE, HOUSE SHOWDOWNS

GOP Congressional candidate Mike Markey Jr. (Markey campaign)

“I’m like, ‘Why are we using, you know, what makes me a disrupter?’ [My team is] like, ‘Mike, you started your first business at 14 years old, you got into real estate before you were 15, you started a financial firm during the worst economic crisis hopefully we ever see in our lifetimes,’” he told ABC News 13 in an interview earlier this month. “They’re like, ‘That makes you a disrupter. You go against the grain, you get things done.’”

Hudson, an attorney, ran on a platform of stability. He argued that the district’s voters are “uneasy” about the current political climate and promised “common sense for crazy times.”

“When I’ve talked to voters, I get a sense that people are really uneasy about the state of the country right now, and that there’s a deep sense that the country is going in the wrong direction,” Hudson told ABC News 13.

Michigan Republican House candidate Paul Hudson. (Hudson campaign)

WHAT MIKE ROGERS TOLD FOX NEWS DIGITAL ABOUT HIS SENATE SHOWDOWN IN MICHIGAN

WASHINGTON – JULY 25: Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., speaks with Roll Call in her office in the Longworth House Office Building on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Hudson will now face Democrat incumbent Rep. Hillary Scholten in November’s general election.

Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, which features all of Grand Rapids and much of the surrounding area, is seen as one of the biggest swing districts in the country after the state’s 2022 redistricting saw the boundaries of the district drawn more competitively. 

Former Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., is running for Michigans open Senate seat

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Scholten, who is serving her first term, was able to wrestle the district away from former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer in 2022. The district is classified as a “likely” win for Democrats in this year’s contest, according to the Cook Political report.